Automotive News says that the program "gives dealers the option to add as much as $2,000 in customer cash on 2012 and 2013 Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras. That's atop the $1,000 in bonus cash GM already was offering on the trucks. The amount of money dealers will get to play with is based on the number of pickups on their lots. GM also is sweetening lease deals on the Chevrolet Malibu, Cruze and Traverse."

"The incentive program represents a slippery slope for the world’s largest automaker," reports Bloomberg. "The company earlier vowed to hold the line on such promotions to protect profits through the end of the year, even as competitors flood showrooms with traditional year-end deals. Walking a line offering incentives that lure buyers without threatening profits or spooking investors is the difficult game that GM is now forced to play."

The Wall Street Journal adds, "In the past, GM and other auto makers focused on keeping factories humming even in the face of slowing demand. When their stocks grew onerous, they would unleash heavy incentives that eroded profitability."

Still, these GM discounts aren't the largest incentives available on pickups in the industry. Bloomberg reports that Chrysler is offering an $8,200 incentive package on Ram trucks, Ford has an estimated $6,500 in incentives on the F-150 and Nissan has incentives that add up to $7,450 on the Nissan Titan. Though competitors are offering bigger incentives, GM has more inventory. Bloomberg says, "Combined U.S. sales of the Silverado and Sierra decreased 8.3 percent last month to 42,400 while deliveries of Ford’s F- Series line increased 18 percent to 56,299 and Ram pickups rose 23 percent to 24,337 in November."